Hi, I can spin up for free a Windows VPS (win server 2016 with graphical interface or win server 2022 core version since it has only 1GB of RAM). The problem is that outside of Linux I have absolutely no experience. I would like to try hosting something also on Windows server just to take away some load from other machines or even just to learn something new.

Therefore I have the following questions:

*Is there any starting resource for windows selfhosting you can recommend? I would love if a list like the awesome selfhosted existed for services that can run on windows.

*Is there anything non-enterprise for which a windows server would provide any advantage over Linux?

*Does anyone self hosts on windows server? Can I ask what you use it for?

Thanks

  • @binkbankbonkEnglish
    0•1 year ago

    Windows isn’t typically meant to run manually installed web servers or apps that would also run on Linux.

    For example, unless you’re Microsoft you wouldn’t set up IIS just to run a web server and manually configure it all unless you had a good reason.

    Microsoft Windows Server absolutely excels at this though - Apps built for Windows. If an app is built for Windows then you typically don’t have to do the manually fiddly stuff like authentication and database setup. It will typically do it for you. It will just be an Exe you run and click next next and you’re done.

    So I would recommend one of the following

    • run a Windows Server Core (headless) and have docker/kubernetes inside it.
    • run windows server (maybe core headless depending on app) and find an app worth trying that’s made for windows.

    The best example app I can think of that is made for Windows that would need Windows Server and is so simple to install is PRTG or Veeam B&R. Both huge apps in Enterprise and both only run on Windows.

    • @aesirOPEnglish
      1•1 year ago

      Thanks, this is an excellent answer.